CNN contributor Chris Guillebeau shares some of the most practical, straightforward travel advice I've ever read in this blog for "Anderson Cooper 360": http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/13/28-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-i-started-traveling/ . This is a must read for any North American leaving the continent.

Warning: these Halloween costumes are not for those who want to use the holiday as an excuse to wear glorified underwear in public. Each of the homemade costumes featured on this getFreshMinds.com blog post shows great creative promise, and some even have costume-contest-winning potential. My favorites are the shower loofah and the "one night stand."

There's still enough time before Halloween to whip one up: http://www.getfreshminds.com/2008/10/creative-hallow.html

This pumpkin "Predator" is one of the intricate, eccentric works of art carved by Texan, Scott Cummins. His other impressive temporarily idolized icons include Wallace and Gromit, The Dude, Davy Jones (of Pirates of the Caribbean 3), Beethoven and, my personal favorite, the "Weird Al Yank-o-lantern." Somehow I think that even after studying the tutorial on Cummins' website, the only recognizable public figure my pumpkin carvings might slightly resemble would be Jason's hockey mask.

Check out his complete carving gallery at http://www.pumpkingutter.com/gallery2/main.php.

Remember when a buck-fifty was a good-days work peddling lemonade as a kid? Well, Steve Carell's daughter recently cashed in on all the paparazzi action in her L.A. neighborhood when she made $36 in 30 minutes selling lemonade to neighbor Billy Ray Cyrus and the paparazzi and police that subsequently followed him. Sounds like she's daddy's little entrepreneur!

Read the full story here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/dailydish/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=48831